When I was in elementary school, scary stories were all the rage.

We had all sorts of stories like Hanako-san of the toilet, kutsi-sake-o-o- Onna, etc. They weren't especially different to other

schools of the time, but we did have one story that was unique to us alone. If you opened

the door to the hall leading to the gym at exactly 356pm, then for some reason some

stairs would mysteriously appear, and if you climbed

those stairs, then your grades for your weakest subjects would suddenly get better.

But if you didn't climb them, or you were unable to climb them, then it was said that

you'd die.

One Saturday afternoon, my friends A, B, and I decided to try it out.

This door was past the staff room, the tea room and the equipment closet, so we chose Saturday

because it would be less busy.

We generally used that hall to get to the gym on rainy days, but it was closed if it was sunny.

On this day it was sunny.

A secretly brought a watch from home, and we used that to open the door at the precise time.

Inside, the third grade teacher was dead.

I don't really remember what happened after that.

The moment we opened the door, we were hit by the smell, which I still vividly remember,

but I don't remember what the teacher looked like.

We sat on the sofa in the principal's office while we waited for our parents, crying

the whole time.

I had pretty awful dreams for a while after that too.

After that, the stories about that mysterious staircase changed to the ghost of that teacher.

...